Back in Texas, Perry touts technology to keep fossil...

1of6Texas Govenor Greg Abott gives a speech at Petra Nova Carbon Capture Plant Thursday, April 13, 2017, in Richmond. NRG Energy celebrates the official opening of its Petra Nova carbon capture plant--which captures carbon from a coal-fired power plant. Technically the plant has been operational since late last year. Plant is the largest of its kind in the world. ( Steve Gonzales / Houston Chronicle )Photo: Steve Gonzales, Staff

2of6Energy Secretary Rick Perry will be expected to offer a clear picture of his department's capability to produce, restore and deliver warheads on schedule.Photo: Steve Gonzales, Staff

3of6New Department of Energy Secretary Rick Perry smiles as he listens to his introduction at the Petra Nova Carbon Capture Plant Thursday, April 13, 2017, in Richmond. NRG Energy celebrates the official opening of its Petra Nova carbon capture plant--which captures carbon from a coal-fired power plant. Technically the plant has been operational since late last year. Plant is the largest of its kind in the world. ( Steve Gonzales / Houston Chronicle )Photo: Steve Gonzales, Staff

4of6Texas Govenor Greg Abbott and New Department of Energy Secretary Rick Perry chat at the Petra Nova Carbon Capture Plant Thursday, April 13, 2017, in Richmond. NRG Energy celebrates the official opening of its Petra Nova carbon capture plant--which captures carbon from a coal-fired power plant. Technically the plant has been operational since late last year. Plant is the largest of its kind in the world. ( Steve Gonzales / Houston Chronicle )Photo: Steve Gonzales, Staff

5of6Gov. Greg Abbott, left, and Energy Secretary Rick Perry helped dedicate the carbon capture plant. NRG Energy celebrates the official opening of its Petra Nova carbon capture plant--which captures carbon from a coal-fired power plant. Technically the plant has been operational since late last year. Plant is the largest of its kind in the world. ( Steve Gonzales / Houston Chronicle )Photo: Steve Gonzales, Staff

6of6Texas Govenor Greg Abbott and New Department of Energy Secretary Rick Perry hug after a ceremonial valve opening Thursday, April 13, 2017, in Richmond. NRG Energy celebrates the official opening of its Petra Nova carbon capture plant--which captures carbon from a coal-fired power plant. Technically the plant has been operational since late last year. Plant is the largest of its kind in the world. ( Steve Gonzales / Houston Chronicle )Photo: Steve Gonzales, Staff

THOMPSONS - Energy Secretary Rick Perry returned to Texas on Thursday to hail a technology that captures carbon dioxide from coal-fired power plants before it escapes into the atmosphere, promoting a future that would still rely heavily on fossil fuels while addressing the threat of climate change.

Perry, the former Texas governor, helped dedicate the nation's first operational carbon capture system, the $1 billion Petra Nova project developed by NRG Energy at its W.A. Parrish power plant here in Fort Bend County. He called for the U.S. to lead in carbon emission control technologies as a way to expand the nation's energy sector - and the economy - while protecting the environment.

"We can and we will be good stewards of both," Perry said.

In many ways, Petra Nova also captures Trump administration policies that seek to keep fossil fuels - oil, gas and coal - viable in a low-carbon world by seeking technological, rather than regulatory, solutions. But the project, which took a decade to plan and build, is not easily replicated. Another carbon capture plant in Mississippi, run by the utility Southern Co., has cost the company billions, and earlier this year a top executive said the company cannot afford to run it.

Even NRG has said it is unlikely to build another carbon capture project unless economics change to make such an investment profitable.

The Obama administration awarded NRG a $190 million grant to help build the plant. NRG and its partner, Japanese energy company JX Nippon Oil and Gas Exploration Corp., developed the system that captures emissions, known as flue gas, and uses a solvent to separate the carbon dioxide from other gases.

After it's separated, the carbon dioxide is pressurized into liquid and transported via pipeline to an oil field about 80 miles from the plant. Hilcorp Energy, a Houston-based oil and gas company, is injecting the carbon dioxide underground to help recover 60 million barrels of oil from an 80-year-old oil field near Port Lavaca. The plant began operations at the end of last year.

"It's a sign that we can use domestic fuels, like coal, in a way that's compatible with the environmental goals," said Michael Webber, deputy director of the Energy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin. "That doesn't mean that our future has been solved yet. We still have challenges."

One the biggest challenges is finding a market for the captured carbon dioxide to offset the investments in the technology. Right now, the primary market is for recovering oil from aging fields, but prices - now about $53 a barrel - are still too low in most instances to justify the cost of using this technique.

Another factor is the low price of natural gas, which has made it the fuel of choice among power producers. Webber said that if natural gas prices go up, companies might again turn to coal and consider investing in carbon capture.

"It is hard to do," Webber said, "but I think in the end its success will be determined by the price of natural gas."

Perry made clear that the Trump administration wants to champion energy innovation, but the future of federal funding for projects like Petra Nova also remains unclear in the administration's proposed budget.

The White House released a budget blueprint in March that would slash funding for the Department of Energy's energy programs by 18 percent. Both the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy and the Title 17 Innovative Technology Loan Guarantee Program would be eliminated in favor of "increased reliance on the private sector to fund later-stage research, development and commercialization of energy technologies."

Ultimately, it will be left to Congress to decide the fate of those programs. And projects like Petra Nova, which can mean hundreds of millions of dollars in investment and thousands of jobs for a region, have proved popular with members of Congress.

Ryan Maye Handy covers the regulation of utilities and oil and gas in Texas. She follows the Railroad Commission of Texas, the state’s oil and gas regulator, and the Public Utility Commission, and tracks trends in renewable energy growth across the state. She came to the Houston Chronicle in October 2016 from Colorado, where she worked as a reporter for nearly six years covering energy and the environment, county government and natural disaster recovery.